Go Fish!ing Inshore

BASS,

The Florida freshwater fisherman is twice blessed. 1)We have excellent
fishing for the Largemouth Bass. This must be the most popular fish
in history. The amount of money and man-hours spent in his pursuit is phenomenal.
2)The Peacock Bass has now been introduced from South America
into South Florida's already active recreational fishery.

LARGEMOUTH, Micropterus salmoides

Largemouth bass can be found in almost any freshwater body anywhere in the
state. The tackle, lures and techniques you normally use will doubtless work
as well here as anywhere else under similar conditions. The main advantage
we have is that the season lasts 12 months a year. Also, the fish grow for
12 months a year.

While it doesn't seem likely that the next world record bass will come from
Florida, you can spend a day catching fish up to 5 pounds and most areas
offer some fish over 10 pounds.

BUTTERFLY PEACOCK, Cichla ocellaris

Peacock bass are limited to Southeast Florida; including Dade, Broward and
Palm Beach Counties. Within this area, the species is further restricted
to the major deep-dredged canal systems due to it's very low tolerance for
cold water conditions. Only those canals deep enough to extend into the water
table offer winter protection. Fish will spread out during the summer and
warm winters, but these canals are where the heaviest concentrations and
largest fish will exist.

Most of the equipment and techniques you use for largemouth will catch some
peacock bass, but few adjustments will increase your catch ratio considerably.
I am not an expert on peacocks but the following tips seem to work. 1)
Forget the worms. You can catch a peacock with one, but it will be a rare
event. 2) If you are using live shiners, small ones seem to work better
than large. 3) Jerking motions near the surface seem to trigger the
most strikes. A Blk/Gld Rappala seems to be the #1 lure for peacocks. Sluggos
seem to work about as well as they do with largemouth's. 4) You can
keep fishing right through the brightest afternoon. Under bright conditions
that would send a largemouth into deep cover, the peacock will be active
and looking for a fight. (Here are a few additional links on
Peacock Bass)

All of the fresh waters from Kissimmee to Florida Bay, including
the rivers and canals of Palm Beach, Broward and Dade Counties, are part
of the South Florida Water Management
District. Some of the most important information when fishing for largemouth
or peacock bass in these areas are the water levels and current flows in
the canals. If you follow the links for
Recreational Maps
you will find a link to a map of the "SFWMD Canals and Structures,
1.4 MB pdf". This will show you a map of the entire system with the
location and name of all of the water control structures including pumps,
locks, spillways, weirs and gated culverts. Then if you go back to the main
page and follow the links to
Technical Data you
will find a link for "Real-time Data" that will take you to
a database of the current status at these structures. If the gates are open
or the pumps are pumping you can assume that there will be water flowing
and fish biting. (BTW, the spillways closest to the intracoastal will
often have snook and small tarpon along with the bass.)